Mercedes Mone feels that men are the “biggest roadblock” to female wrestlers being paid more
AEW star Mercedes Mone did an interview with Katee Sackhoff and here is an excerpt…
Katee: “What are you trying to accomplish for women in sport? Because it’s a huge topic right now, especially financially. There are people out there that say when women start bringing in the money that the men bring in, then they’ll start making the money that the men make. What are your thoughts?”
Mercedes: “My thoughts are that, number one, we do — especially in the sport that I’m in, pro wrestling. It’s shown weekly on television ratings. It’s shown weekly with our merch sales. It’s shown weekly with fans coming and holding up their signs, and knowing that they came and bought a ticket to see the women. It’s proven that we do it just like the guys.
So why not get paid equally? Why not get paid the same? Why not be given the same amount of TV time just like them? So that’s what I’m here to do. That’s what I’m here to prove.
I’ve been able to have the opportunity to do that so many times because of the hard work I’ve been putting in my whole career. I’m the first ever woman to main event a pay-per-view, which is so special. I’m the first ever African American woman to main event at WrestleMania. There are just so many first-time-ever accomplishments that I’ve been able to achieve.
For me, my biggest goal is to make that happen for women globally all over the world and to give women a place to know that if I can do it, they can do it too. If I can accomplish my dreams, they can do it too. If I can main event, you can main event. If I can be the number one woman in the sport and be the highest paid, then so can you. That’s what I want for women in pro wrestling and globally across women’s sports.
Katee: “What do you see as the biggest roadblocks for that?”
Mercedes: “These men. It’s just these men.
I feel like that’s the biggest roadblock. Sometimes we prove it so often, but it’s never consistent with them. It’s like, ‘Okay, let’s give them a bone. Oh, they did great. Don’t let them be better than us — we’ve got to take our bone back.’ It’s letting them know that it’s actually okay to give us the same respect and time, and not to take that bone back.
Let us keep it and do it consistently every single week — not a little pat on the back like, ‘Okay, you can have this main event just this month, but next year it’s about us again.’ I feel like consistency is what we have to keep showing them all the time.
Katee “So you think it’s the wrestlers sort of jealous of giving up their screen time?”
Mercedes: “Yes — and just the people in the back. I think society is so used to lowering women. For women, we can’t lower ourselves anymore. We can’t stand back and say, ‘It’s okay, I’ll wait my turn.’ No, we’re going to take it. I’m going to take it and I’m going to be consistent with it.”